I’m currently lecturing at the University of West England (UWE) in Bristol. I’m teaching Year 2 students a module called “Managing People”.
This is something that I’ve always wanted to do and I’m thoroughly enjoying this new opportunity. Though it’s certainly challenging trying to keep twenty nineteen-year-old students motivated for 2 hours at 9am!
Although I’ve got a lot of theory to cover during these lectures I’m also taking the opportunity to share some career tips with them as they start to look for placements and/or graduate roles.
These career tips are relevant whether you’re nineteen and looking for your first job or you’ve been working for 20 yrs and looking for your first director role.
So here, in no particular order, are my 80 kick-ass life and career boosting tips:
1. Get a coach
2. Have a mentor
3. Be a mentor
4. Believe in yourself!
5. Ask for help
6. Be persistent
7. Say ‘yes’ to opportunities
8. Volunteer for projects
9. Be authentic
10. Create your own luck
11. Create a brand
12. Use LinkedIn
13. Set up a Twitter account
14. Sign up for training
15. Accept public speaking opportunities
16. Set career goals
17. Set salary goals
18. Update your CV annually
19. Feel the fear and do it anyway!
20. Read. A lot!
21. Lead projects
22. Grab a secondment opportunity
23. Volunteer
24. Be self-aware
25. Use your holiday allowance
26. Get 8 hours’ sleep
27. Exercise
28. Eat well
29. Network
30. Be kind
31. Practice gratitude
32. Celebrate achievements – small and large
33. Learn a new skill
34. Listen to podcasts
35. Ask for a pay rise
36. Make mistakes
37. Admit mistakes
38. Ignore the nay-sayers
39. Create a vision board
40. Dress for success
41. Embrace your strengths
42. Accept your weaknesses
43. Be kind to people along the way
44. Cut the negative self-talk
45. Practice mindfulness
46. Remove any money blocks that you may have
47. Be tenacious
48. Reward yourself
49. Trust your gut
50. Know your worth
51. Step out of your comfort zone
52. Watch Ted Talks
53. Learn to say ‘no’ sometimes
54. Volunteer
55. Don’t sweat the small stuff
56. Recruit a team that’s more experienced than you
57. Make first impressions count
58. Have a firm handshake
59. Praise your team
60. Hang out with positive people
61. Minimise time with negative drainers
62. Ask your boss what their biggest problem is and get rid of it
63. Make your boss look good
64. Pick your battles
65. Connect with recruitment consultants
66. Take risks
67. Ask for feedback
68. Diversify your experience
69. Think about your next career move
70. Shadow a colleague
71. Avoid use of the word “just”
72. Join a mastermind group
73. Say ‘thank you’.
74. Speak up
75. Learn to negotiate
76. Don’t personalise
77. Embrace rejection
78. Be confident
79. Dare to be all that you can be
80. Follow your dreams!
So that’s 80 excellent tips to encourage you to accelerate your career and life in general. Have you got any different ones to bring the list up to 100?
If so share them with me – I’d love to hear from you.